Post by Bernard Kron on Apr 27, 2020 13:45:24 GMT -5
When I was building my last project, a black ’32 Ford Highboy Roadster featuring a deep gloss paint job, I experimented with various black paints to compare their shades (yes black comes in different shades, although it is subtle). One of my many faults is that I have a weakness for cheap paints. I’ll always give a budget paint a try in the hopes that I find an incredible bargain. I don’t airbrush so we’re talking home and auto aerosol spray paints and craft acrylics here.
One of my favorite cheapo aerosols is Brite Touch, sold here in the U.S. at auto supply stores and made by Sherwin Williams. Even the brand name is cheapo! I’m a big fan of their primers. Their grey is a lighter shade of gray which, if you’re doing a primer rod is much nicer, to my eyes, than the dark grey hot rod primers like Duplicolor or Testors. Brite Touch Red Oxide primer is a much truer red oxide color than other red primers, too, and also makes a terrific undercoat when you want some primer to show through (see below). They even make a black primer which is an ideal matte black for tires, among other things. I only wish they made a white primer.
So I thought I’d try their gloss paints. There white gloss is a true white and flows and sets up nicely and is rapidly becoming a mainstay for me as an undercoat and as a race car base color. Now it was time to try their Gloss Black. This time it was an utter Fail. It doesn’t flow well and sets up with a grainy texture, almost like a very fine orange peel. Bummer! But what I did discover is that when you sand it out, whereas it will never get you back to a true, deep gloss, it does a fine imitation of worn, faded black paint.
The shiny black Deuce Highboy came out the way I wanted it too, nice and deep and glossy (I used Duplicolor Universal Gloss Black with Krylon Clear on that one). After the usual brief period of builder’s block the obvious follow-up presented itself. After Glossy Black how about worn and faded black? After all I had accidentally stumbled on the perfect paint to do it, that wretched Brite Touch Black Gloss. And sitting in my stash since it was first introduced back in 2015 was the ideal candidate – the Revell ’29 Ford Highboy roadster.
That kit which created tremendous interest and excitement when it first came out, shared a characteristic with most Revell hot rod and custom kits – the kit was engineered with a very specific vision of what the final result should be – one that I rarely agree with. It took me a while to come to terms with and when I finally built it I built the Low-Boy version. This left plenty of parts left over, including the Nailhead motor and the chassis and interior for the Highboy version. While I was building it someone offered a kind of “Highboy build kit” with a body shell and grill, all the suspension, the chassis, suspension and the interior. I still don’t understand it since all that was missing was the motor and the wheels and tires. But at Buy It Now for less than $15.00 USD delivered who was I to ask? Sold!
And there it sat in my stash until now. The plan is to build the Highboy as kind of my version of Jairus Watson’s recent box art illustration for the re-issue of this kit which is coming out as I write this. Jairus’ illustration is of the highboy in worn black paint, featuring the rather questionable “rust” decals that come in the kit. But the illustration captures the flavor of what I have in mind. In my case the Nailhead, which has become somewhat overused of late, will remain in the box, and I’ll be using an Oldsmobile V8 in stock trim (itself on its way to being overused) with a mild hop up. I’m also substituting a ’32 Ford grill. The wheels and tires consist of the superb Lincoln tires and 16” wheels from Drag City Casting at the rear, and Modelhaus .120A tires on AMT ’40 ford steelies at the front.
The patina on the paint was achieved as follows. The base coat is Brite Touch Red Oxide primer followed by a coat of Duplicolor Primer Sealer and two coats of the dreaded Brite Touch Gloss Black. The whole thing was wet sanded, first with 1000 grit to knock down the peal and create the worn areas, and then with 2000 grit to bring the shine back. One thing about worn and oxidized paint is that it’s actually quite smooth and not matte as some might think. Then I gave the result a light pass with rust colored weathering powder to create some mild surface rust in the crevices and corners, and then a dusting of pale gray weathering powder to simulate the oxidation and dirt. The result is what you see below.
Next up is the Oldsmobile V8. Then on to the problem of what to do about all that kit chrome…
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
One of my favorite cheapo aerosols is Brite Touch, sold here in the U.S. at auto supply stores and made by Sherwin Williams. Even the brand name is cheapo! I’m a big fan of their primers. Their grey is a lighter shade of gray which, if you’re doing a primer rod is much nicer, to my eyes, than the dark grey hot rod primers like Duplicolor or Testors. Brite Touch Red Oxide primer is a much truer red oxide color than other red primers, too, and also makes a terrific undercoat when you want some primer to show through (see below). They even make a black primer which is an ideal matte black for tires, among other things. I only wish they made a white primer.
So I thought I’d try their gloss paints. There white gloss is a true white and flows and sets up nicely and is rapidly becoming a mainstay for me as an undercoat and as a race car base color. Now it was time to try their Gloss Black. This time it was an utter Fail. It doesn’t flow well and sets up with a grainy texture, almost like a very fine orange peel. Bummer! But what I did discover is that when you sand it out, whereas it will never get you back to a true, deep gloss, it does a fine imitation of worn, faded black paint.
The shiny black Deuce Highboy came out the way I wanted it too, nice and deep and glossy (I used Duplicolor Universal Gloss Black with Krylon Clear on that one). After the usual brief period of builder’s block the obvious follow-up presented itself. After Glossy Black how about worn and faded black? After all I had accidentally stumbled on the perfect paint to do it, that wretched Brite Touch Black Gloss. And sitting in my stash since it was first introduced back in 2015 was the ideal candidate – the Revell ’29 Ford Highboy roadster.
That kit which created tremendous interest and excitement when it first came out, shared a characteristic with most Revell hot rod and custom kits – the kit was engineered with a very specific vision of what the final result should be – one that I rarely agree with. It took me a while to come to terms with and when I finally built it I built the Low-Boy version. This left plenty of parts left over, including the Nailhead motor and the chassis and interior for the Highboy version. While I was building it someone offered a kind of “Highboy build kit” with a body shell and grill, all the suspension, the chassis, suspension and the interior. I still don’t understand it since all that was missing was the motor and the wheels and tires. But at Buy It Now for less than $15.00 USD delivered who was I to ask? Sold!
And there it sat in my stash until now. The plan is to build the Highboy as kind of my version of Jairus Watson’s recent box art illustration for the re-issue of this kit which is coming out as I write this. Jairus’ illustration is of the highboy in worn black paint, featuring the rather questionable “rust” decals that come in the kit. But the illustration captures the flavor of what I have in mind. In my case the Nailhead, which has become somewhat overused of late, will remain in the box, and I’ll be using an Oldsmobile V8 in stock trim (itself on its way to being overused) with a mild hop up. I’m also substituting a ’32 Ford grill. The wheels and tires consist of the superb Lincoln tires and 16” wheels from Drag City Casting at the rear, and Modelhaus .120A tires on AMT ’40 ford steelies at the front.
The patina on the paint was achieved as follows. The base coat is Brite Touch Red Oxide primer followed by a coat of Duplicolor Primer Sealer and two coats of the dreaded Brite Touch Gloss Black. The whole thing was wet sanded, first with 1000 grit to knock down the peal and create the worn areas, and then with 2000 grit to bring the shine back. One thing about worn and oxidized paint is that it’s actually quite smooth and not matte as some might think. Then I gave the result a light pass with rust colored weathering powder to create some mild surface rust in the crevices and corners, and then a dusting of pale gray weathering powder to simulate the oxidation and dirt. The result is what you see below.
Next up is the Oldsmobile V8. Then on to the problem of what to do about all that kit chrome…
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
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